Malloy: State Must Mend Waterbury 'Mixmaster' Before Replacing It

Malloy, along with Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O'Leary and representatives of the state Department of Transportation, held a press conference Friday to provide updates on the I-84 Waterbury Project.

Malloy, along with Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O'Leary and representatives of the state Department of Transportation, held a press conference Friday to provide updates on the I-84 Waterbury Project.

(Peter Casolino / Hartford Courant)

MEAGHAN LATELLA

Waterbury mixmaster must be fixed before it is replaced — “We can't have it fall down on us,”

WATERBURY - Before the nightmarish "mixmaster" on the Waterbury stretch of I-84 can be replaced, it will have to be repaired, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Friday.

The mixmaster is the name given to the overlapping stretches of highway, and related exits and entrances, where I-84 and Route 8 meet.

Malloy, along with Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O'Leary and representatives of the state Department of Transportation, held a press conference to provide updates on the I-84 Waterbury Project.

"What I'm announcing today is that we'll undertake the repairs necessary to stretch the useful life [of the current mixmaster] for a few more years," Malloy said.

According to the governor, there is no concrete design in place yet for what the newly designed interchange will look like or how it will be built. He said the state will first need to invest money in extending the life of the current mixmaster before fully replacing it.

HARTFORD — Connecticut should spend $100 billion over the next 30 years to transform its transportation network, pumping about two thirds of that money into widening interstates and rebuilding major bridges, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Wednesday.

Modernizing the state's highways and transit systems...

(DON STACOM)

"We can't have it fall down on us," Malloy said.

Repairs will begin in 2017 and are projected to take two years. Once the repairs are complete, work on the replacement can begin. Malloy said the state has not determined how long the replacement process will take.

Right now, the state is widening a section of I-84 that has only two lanes in each direction. The cost to widen the highway is $298 million, not including the costs of inspecting and administrating the construction work.

The section runs between exits 23 and 25 and extends for 2.78 miles. The plan is to add a third travel lane on each side of the highway. Work on this part the project began April 1.

Mayor O'Leary said that the widening is projected to take four years. He also said that if the state experiences particularly harsh winters between now and then, there is a chance that construction will extend to five years.

The widening will eliminate some of the curved parts of I-84 that add to congestion and traffic build-up. In addition, ramps in this stretch will be reconfigured and sections of both the Mad River and Beaver Pond Brook will be relocated to make way for the new lanes.

"What [two lanes] creates is weave," explained Chris Zukowski, the DOT Project Engineer. "Weave is where traffic from the on ramp has to merge in and traffic from the mainline has to merge off. That weave is what slows down traffic flow."

Zukowski said that the addition of a third lane will help reduce weave, meaning traffic will finally be able to flow better through this part of I-84.